GAME CHANGER A PROPOSED BIPARTISAN BILL AIMS TO REFORM THE BUSINESS OF PROFESSIONAL BOXING AND CLEAN UP A TARNISHED SPORT – WOULD IT WORK? By Mike Silver
If you think professional boxing is in great shape, you can stop reading now. But if you’re among the many fans frustrated and disappointed by the chaos, corruption and confusion that have plagued the sport for years, read on.
A Flawed System First, some background information: A major problem for professional boxing is its lack of a legitimate, centralized regulatory body. Unlike the NFL, NBA, MLB or NHL, professional boxing in the United States has never had a national commissioner with the power to limit abuse and set uniform standards. Instead, each state has its own taxpayer- funded boxing commission that is often staffed by political appointees who know little or nothing about the sport. A state’s boxing commission collects tax revenues from fight promotions, requires medical exams (although the number and type of tests vary from state to state), grants licenses and permits, approves matches and issues suspensions for infractions. But too often they are inconsistent in their most important duty: protecting the fighters. Although the commissions’ essential role is to protect the health and well-being of the athlete, their performance is often hindered by bureaucratic inefficiency and incompetence. One of their biggest failures is compromising their authority to the sport’s so-called “sanctioning organizations” – the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO (known in the industry as the “Alphabet Groups”).
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